Abstract

Colombia embraces 7% of the Amazon basin, a worldwide conservation priority ecosystem, and
most of it overlaps with indigenous territories. Some indigenous communities live inside
protected areas and the impact of people in parks on biodiversity is uncertain. This work
compares harvests measures hunting sustainability from indigenous people, prey species
richness and carnivore density in a protected area and an unprotected area in Amazonia. Field
data collection was collected for 14 months by recording hunting harvests from indigenous
groups inside and outside Amacayacu National Park and camera trapping in their respective
hunting catchment areas. Hunting harvests, catchment areas sizes and hunters effort where
comparable between sites, Catch Per Unit (CPU) effort was slightly here in the unprotected site,
nevertheless hunters harvested equal biomass to those in the park. Hunting of the largest
mammal species at both sites showed evidence of unsustainable extraction rates and were taken
more often than expected from availability. The majority of hunting occurred within 15 km
from towns and hunting within the first 5 km was higher in the unprotected area. Relative
abundance indexes of game species presented no strong difference between sites. Edge effect
from hunting towns was evident at a large scale and the probability of detecting game species
and carnivores farther from town was significantly higher. Jaguar (Panthera onca) and ocelot
(Leopardus pardalis), densities did not vary significantly outside or inside the park. These
densities are reported for the first time in Colombia. Prey base of indigenous communities
showed decreased abundance outside the park, and the continuing hunting pressure could drive
large game species to local extinction, unless limits to human increase and sustainable hunting
is achieved, particularly in the unprotected area.

Type:

Thesis (Doctoral)

Title:

Hunting sustainability, species richness and carnivore
conservation in Colombian Amazonia